Does the Minister accept that the Government has been underfunding local roads? Does he accept that the local road network is in its worst state in many decades as a result of this underfunding? I know that in County Monaghan, I see a local council trying desperately to maintain roads that are in a desperate state. It is carrying out patching works when full resurfacing is required. I am told that the situation is similar in Donegal. Will the Government allocate the necessary funding to allow these local roads to be resurfaced? Will the Government commit not just to some gesture in advance of the local elections but also to a comprehensive allocation that recognises that people in rural communities pay their road tax and their excise in fuel, which the Government keeps increasing, and deserve to be able to drive to work without breaking the suspension or the tyres on their cars?

I thank Deputy Carthy. I do not accept that the Government is underfunding roads. It is putting record funding into roads. In the last day or two, we had an announcement from the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, of a record €40 million this year for local improvement scheme roads.

That is lanes.

The weather has been a particular challenge, like with many other aspects of life, with the wear and tear on our roads over the last number of months, but we are responding to that with record funding for local authorities across the country, which do really good work in this regard.